Typical computer interfaces include a monitor that displays a number of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) which are graphical representations of executable computer programs. The graphical representations include elements such as buttons, boxes and lines of text. A point and click device, such as a mouse, is moved by a user on a surface, such as a desktop, causing a corresponding pointer on the computer display to move. To select a graphical representation in the GUI, also referred to as icons, the user moves the pointer over the desired item and presses a button on the mouse, known as clicking on the icon.
When a user clicks on an icon, it creates an input command to the computer to execute certain code, which may include opening an application, opening a file, or running a program. For example, a word processor application will have a corresponding icon on the computer display that, when clicked, will start the application. The computer translates the clicking action to a run command in the following way. When the user clicks on the word processor icon, the computer checks an icon file that contains the defining properties of the icon, including the particular input command that corresponds to the action of clicking on the icon.
After accessing the icon file, the computer executes the particular input command, which opens the application, or starts the program. If an icon represented a picture file, for example, clicking on that icon would cause the computer to display the picture. Clicking on a “print” icon would print out the picture.
Most computer systems operate through some type of GUI, making a point and click device essential and navigation without one very difficult. This is especially true with the World Wide Web (the Web) which seeks to allow simple and intuitive navigation of Internet sites through GUIs. The Web has become the leading information retrieval service of the Internet (a worldwide computer network). Users access information on a web site through its web pages. Each page is a GUI with a number of clickable elements (electronic links) that lead to other web pages, file downloads, or other web sites.